To:
Sen. Ted Cruz

Tell Ted Cruz to end his hypocrisy on healthcare

Sen. Cruz, if you're so committed to denying healthcare coverage to millions of Americans that you were willing to shut down the government to stop the Affordable Care Act, it's time to put your money where your mouth is. Either end your hypocrisy by giving up your own federally subsidized coverage under your wife's $20,000-a-year plan from Goldman Sachs, or support affordable healthcare coverage for all Americans.

Why is this important?

Earlier this month, right-wing extremist Sen. Ted Cruz led a government shutdown and held our economy hostage for 16 days in order to prevent millions of Americans from qualifying for healthcare coverage. But Cruz himself is covered by a gold-plated health insurance policy through his wife's employer, Goldman Sachs, valued at about $20,000 a year. Cruz has better coverage than most other members of Congress, let alone constituents like me, but still wants to deny us even a minimal level of coverage.

As a Texan, I'm embarrassed that my senator cost the U.S. economy $24 billion in his hypocritical quest to prevent millions of Americans from receiving affordable healthcare.

Until recently, I -- like many Texans -- received no healthcare coverage from my employer. Working on contract, I had limited options to purchase my own expensive health insurance on the individual market. If I hadn't recently started a new job, right now I would be looking for coverage in the insurance exchange created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Unlike constituents like me, Cruz has access to gold-plated healthcare through his wife's employer, Goldman Sachs. And because Goldman Sachs pays for its policies in lieu of additional taxable income, Cruz and his family effectively receive an estimated $8,500 federal subsidy for better coverage than most Americans. This subsidy is far greater than the one that low-income Americans would receive through the ACA to pay for their own coverage, which Cruz opposes.

It's bad enough that Sen. Cruz engaged in a pointless 21-hour filibuster where he alternated between condemning the ACA and reading children's books. But Cruz's campaign to hold our government hostage by dragging the country into a costly 16-day shutdown was insanely irresponsible. In his quest to prevent his constituents from receiving even a fraction of the healthcare coverage he himself receives, the Council of Economic Advisors estimates that Cruz cost our country 120,000 jobs.

If Cruz believes so strongly that his constituents don't deserve affordable access to healthcare that he's willing to stick them with the cost of the shutdown, he should be willing to give up his own federally subsidized gold-plated coverage from Goldman Sachs as well.

If extreme Tea Party members of Congress like Cruz are allowed to engage in wildly irresponsible behavior and devastate the economy at no cost to themselves, they could easily shut down our government again. But if you sign my petition and share it with your friends, we can make sure Cruz's constituents and national media understand his hypocrisy on this issue and take away the credibility he needs to prevent more Americans from receiving affordable healthcare.